Rotten Doors

[BERT]

Hi All, I started my conversion of a 2008 Haulmark 6x12 approx. 3 weeks ago. Much to my dismay when attempting to insulate my doors I found that the bottom 12" of both the rear cargo doors and man door were completely rotted out and moldy. Being an experienced wood worker it wasn't a big deal to fix, just took extra time. Is this a common problem with these trailers?

I noticed that the original caulking was very poorly done and that none of the bolts or screws were sealed. Also, the bottom trim channel for the door did not have any drainage holes in it so any water that did enter the door cavity would be held in and lead to accelerated rot. Has anyone added "drain holes" to the bottom of their doors?

I suspect that without all door handware being caulked door rot will happen sooner or later, but probably sooner.

http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?image_id=78892

Rotted out

http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?image_id=78895

Rotted out

http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?image_id=78896

Repaired and insulated

[B@tt]

Wow, thats nasty. Nice work on the repair. Good observation on the trim not being sealed properly and not having drain holes. You would think that kinda thing would a no brainer for a trailer manufacturer.

Good luck on your build.

-B@tt

[pete42]

Haulmark is a known brand and one I would have thought would be built with better quality control.

BUT If the seams were not kept caulked by the previous owners I can see where water could get into the wood
and if it didn't have a way to escape through the missing drain holes then you get rotten wood.

I would add some drain holes making sure they were dimmpled on the inside of the channel so water would drain
instead of drilling them from the outside which would leave them higher inside the channel than the rest of the channel .

keep us up to date we enjoy reading and seeing any and all builds.

pete

[BERT]

Thanks for the compliments. I will be adding the drain holes today. I didn't think about drilling them from the inside out and the doors are already reassambled and caulked. Hmmm, I'll have to think about how much work I want to create for myself.

[vreihen]

Haulmark is a known brand and one I would have thought would be built with better quality control.

How many times have we heard that exact same assumption about [insert RV manufacturer here] and the general craftsmanship in that industry? It seems that everyone has to hit a price-point, and if that means using wood in hidden areas and blaming failures on owners not caulking around their doors then hopefully 99% of the customers will not tear their door skins off to notice.....

[warbird]

BUT If the seams were not kept caulked by the previous owners ...........

Sorry Pete but I don't quite understand this on a 'manufactured' teardrop, when we buy a product from a pro company I feel we are paying a premium to get a pro product & with that should include a proper build, I would not expect to have to disassemble that product to check that they had used the correct sealents for the job every so often! If I wanted to do that, I'd maybe build my own at half the price
I have a 6 year old Little Guy Deluxe that I've just had to carry out major structural work to where I have learned about manufacturers cutting corners in both construction & quality control!
Cheers
Geoff
Bristol, UK

[pete42]

I think bert said his cargo trailer was a 2008 not a tear drop, but it doesn't matter what it is.

I have found that after a couple of years the caulk starts to dry out allowing water into the inside be it drop down ramps or RV type doors with clogged weep holes the water has no where to escape.

car doors, truck doors van doors all have weap holes but the still rust out from water trapped when they become clogged.

[SmilinJack]

When I installed the RV style door lock on my man door I discovered that it too was rotten. I couldn't find evidence of ANY caulk from the factory. Also, when I had a roof leak (not related to the door problem) repaired by my dealer, the repairman said the roof was installed wrong at the factory and he had never seen an installation messed up as badly as mine. My trailer is a Homesteader.

[mskobier]

Bert,
I too am converting a Haulmark. Mine is a 2001 7x16. I picked it up used last year.

One thing I found on mine, was that inside the walls, they did not paint the steel studs. The roof bows were painted, but the wall studs were bare metal. Fortunately, I live in a dry climate (high desert in Eastern Washington), so it is not a major problem. I did use black Rustoleum to paint the ribs while I had the plywood walls out, but I could not get paint between the aluminum skin and the steel studs. I have not yet tackled the doors. I figure I will get it serviceable again, then work on things as time allows.

Also, all of the wiring connections in my CT were made with scotch locks. Again, in a dry climate, probably not a problem. I replaced all of them with soldered and heat shrink sealed connections.

If you are interested in seeing what I have done, check out my album. I have a lot of pictures to add as time permits.

Good luck
Mitch

[BERT]

Mitch, Nice work on your trailer. Keep the pics coming in your album.

Fortunately all my interior metal work was painted.

It seems there are great inconsistencies between manufacturers and even within the same manufacturers as to what is done right and poorly or even wrong.

[mskobier]

Bert,
Thanks for the compliments. I have added more pictures to the album. Take a look. Things are moving along nicely.

Mitch

[mskobier]

Bert,
I removed the man door on my CT today to insulate and add the RV door latch. I found the same thing you did on yours. The bottom of the door is badly rotted! Now my CT is 10 years old, but I would have prefered for it not to be rotten. anyway, I get to build a new door frame tomorrow, so I can reinstall it. I am also considering modifying the design some. The original has a 1-1/8" thick frame with a 1/8" thick plywood inner skin, and an aluminum outter skin. I am considering reducing the thickness to 1" on the frame and installing a 1/4" plywood inner skin. This would maintain the original thickness, and I think make it a bit stronger. It will also prevent having a 1/8" void inside the door. The insulation I am using is 1" thick styrofoam board, so it should completely fill the voids. You can check out a couple of pictures of the damage in my album or on my thread.

Mitch

[BERT]

Wow, you would almost think that we took pictures of the same door! It really is important to make sure the bottom of the door frame has those drain/weeping holes in it to prevent this. Nice repair!

[mskobier]

Bert,
Thanks for the compliment. I would not really call it a repair, since I completely rebuilt the frame. The only things I reused were the hinges and outer/inner aluminum skin. I do not think the issue that caused the rot was lack of drainage from leaking. Most liklely it was caused by condensation in the viod spaces inside the door. In the past, I built a wooden framed airplane (a single seater). One of the things that was stressed in many publications, was to seal the wood inside any completely enclosed structures to prevent rot from condensation. So when I rebuilt the man door, I sealed the inside with polyurethane spar varnish. That coupled with drain holes should help this door last a long time.

I did stay with the original frame thickness dimensions. If I had went any thinner, I would not have been able to fit the RV style lock mechanisim. As it is, it is a perfect fit with little extra clearances. When I do the rear doors, I will use a thinner frame so I can use the 5mm (3/16) plywood I picked up at the home center. It is a lot less expensive than the sheet of 1/8 mahogany plywood that I used for the man door. fortunately it was left over from another project.

Mitch